It's beginning to look a little like Christmas

There are still some things about California weather that surprise me. Like the fact that this weekend for the first time this year, we finally turned the heat on in our house. All be it, it was only for an hour in the morning and later that afternoon it got up to 75 degrees. We're definitely spoiled in that respect. I love that I can get up and walk the dogs every morning without worrying about rain. But when it comes to the holiday season, there's still a part of you that longs for the crisp chilled air to match the season and get you into that fall/winter spirit. This week the weather is cooperating. We are experiencing something this morning I haven't seen in a lllloooooooonnnnnngggggg time. FOG. It's so beautiful. And it forces Los Angeleans to do something they never do, slow down on the commute. We should also have a couple of days of rain this week and a few highs in the upper sixties. Brrrrrrr. At least I'll get to wear my new fall coat!

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

It's a sad title for this moment in history. Last night as we watched the electoral map turn blue and the election was called in favor of Obama, the immediate response was elation and celebration. Shouting, jumping, cheering, hugging. Then it went to solemn awe as we tried to fathom the giant leap our country had taken in electing the first African-American President of the United States. Not that this was a condition that qualifies him, but for the first time in history, it did not disqualify him either. I've never felt so patriotic or proud to be an American. It's a true measure of what democracy can achieve. I'm awed by the power of a grass roots campaign that came from the people, by the people, for the people. And I have great hopes and aspirations for the healing of a nation that is desperately in need of healing. Nathan shared a quote with us last night. He couldn't remember where it came from, but it goes something like this: "Rosa Parks SAT so that Martin Luther King could STAND. Martin Luther King STOOD so that Barack Obama could RUN. Barack Obama RAN so that we can FLY."

Even in the celebration and awe of this profound moment, there is still sadness. My new state, California, voted to ban gay marriage, overturning a decision not six months ago to amend the state constitution to extend the legal rights of marriage to same sex couples. I wish I could celebrate the victory of the new presidency with unrestraint. But for me it is still a sad day where the human rights we celebrate for some are still denied to others.

The Numbers

Tomorrow is the official initial weigh in for the start of our Biggest Loser contest at work. But I have the unofficial results. My own weight was pretty much what I expected - 144 pounds. It's Cordy and Seumas' weight that really shocked me - 25 pounds and 19 pounds respectively. OUCH! A healthy weight for them should be about 20 and 15 pounds. They have as much weight to lose as I do! Don is also showing support. He offered to get up with me in the mornings to walk together with the dogs and maybe even do some yoga. I'll also be changing my eating habits quite a bit, 4-5 small meals a day instead of 2-3 larger ones. It's a trick I've learned from watching the Real Biggest Loser show to consume less calories overall but keep your metabolism in high gear. I'm even considering creating an alter ego for my workout persona so that even when I don't feel like working out, I can pretend to be someone else who can't get enough of it!

This may not be the true spirit of the contest, but of course I celebrated my last weekend before the weigh in by consuming everything I won't be allowed to eat for the next two months - pizza, hamburger, fries, chocolate souffle, beer, martinis, mocha, soda and donuts. Bye bye high calorie foods.

Biggest Loser

We started a Biggest Loser Competition at work. $25 buy in. Contest goes from November 3rd to January 5th. Karen is bringing her scale to work and we are going to weigh in every Monday. At the end of two months, the colleague who has lost the greatest percentage of body weight takes home the winnings. We are all excited about the idea of getting healthy and losing weight. But we are also having huge blast trash talking each other despite the fact that we haven't even started yet. It's been a while since I've done anything truly competitive and I think this will be a lot of fun. Everybody wish me luck.

Since I will be walking the dogs a lot, I've decide to also weigh in Cordy and Seumas so that they can have their own biggest loser competition as well. Whichever wiener dog loses the greatest percentage of body weight, wins a night of sleeping in the big bed with Mommy and Daddy.

Time for Two

Happy Monday morning. Don and I just came off of a lovely weekend. It was the first weekend since I can't even remember that we spent the whole time just the two of us. We are blessed to be surrounded by an amazing group of friends here who have become our family away from home. We love spending time with them, love hosting and entertaining, even just hanging out and doing laundry together. But while we love all of that and don't intend to scale back, it was a golden opportunity to indulge in alone time this weekend and reconnect as a couple.

Here are just a few things we did:

- Bought the new Batman Lego Game and played on our new PS3.
- Went grocery shopping together.
- Bought a beautiful new dish set at Target.
- Got a burger at Fatburger.
- Cooked Dinner together.
- Sat out and sunned in the backyard with the dogs
- Watched the Tudors on Netflix
- Started our first little bit of Christmas shopping.

Credit Card Debt Free

Just made the last payoff amount to our credit card and put our first chunk of savings into our "down payment for a house fund." Man that feels good!

Meal Plan

My sister, Terri, says it takes 30 days to form a new habit. Well after one week of cooking awesome meals, I think I'm converted. So here's another weeks worth of meals planned out, recipes printed, and groceries stocked. It's going to be a good week. Watch the cooking blog for reviews.

Monday
Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad

Tuesday:
Thai Style Ground Beef

Wednesday:
Camille's cooking dinner!

Thursday:
Feta Chicken and Vegetables
Citrus Couscous Salad

Friday:
Turkey Jambalaya
Broccoli with Red Pepper Flakes and Toasted Garlic

Lots of updates this week on the cooking blog

http://cookingkamasutras.blogspot.com/

The Hour of Power was muy successful. Mostly because I delegated a bunch of stuff and got down towards the bottom of my inbox. Time for a snack break and then the push through to 5'oclock. Can't wait for gaming tonight!

Hour of Power

I learned this term from Emily Olson. This is when you don't feel like working, so you set a timer for an hour and work really hard and see how much you can get done by the time the timer goes off. So I'm setting the timer, going to see if there's anyway I can get through my inbox and notes by the end of the hour. Too much on my plate. I'd pay money if I could have no phone calls or sales people interrupting me over the next hour. Except then I would be paying money to work, which is just wrong. Back in an hour!

Late night menu planning

Yes, I'm still alive. I've definitely lost touch with the blogging world. It was much easier to keep up with when I had a boring job and time to kill all day long on the computer. Now that I'm busy at work, there's no down time during the day and not so much feeling like sitting in front of the computer when I get home. So here, is a self reminder that blogs don't have to be extensive. Quickie updates are OK too.

So one of the shows I've discovered with my reintroduction into the world of television (by the way, love that TIVO thing!) is the Biggest Loser. What a fun show and very motivating. Since we've moved into our new place we have a huge living room so I've been able to keep my treadmill in there and use it so much more. As you can see from Don's blog, we even taught Cordy to walk on the treadmill! It's soooo cute. So I'm in better shape than I have been in a while and thinking about setting some kind of goal whether it be joining a basketball league or running a race.

Also, I've been a little uninspired for a while on the cooking and mealplanning so the show has also been a good motivator to get back into that some more. I just created a fabulous menu of dinners from the week and was so excited I have to share. So here's what's serving up at the Early Household this week:

Sunday:
Sirloin Steaks with Mushroom Sauce
Spicy Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus

Monday:
Parchment Baked Halibut with Pesto, Zucchini, and Carrots
Green & Yellow Wax Beans with Roasted Pepper

Tuesday:
Roasted Pepper-Pesto Tomato Pizza
Greek Dinner Salad

Wednesday:
Smoked Turkey, Brie, Green Apple, and Watercress Sandwich
Strawberry-Kiwi Salad with Basil

Thursday:
Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Sweet & Spicy Sauce

Friday:
Linguine with Sauteed Shrimp & Coconut Lime Sauce
Broccoli with Red Pepper Flakes and Toasted Garlic

All of these recipes can be found on the MyRecipes.com website and by following the links above. I will be off to the Encino Farmer's Market in the morning to pick up some fresh ingredients. Watch our Cooking Kama Sutras Blog for reviews of the recipes throughout the week.

Let the Moving Begin

Things are happening. This morning I go to pick up the keys to our new place and we can start taking loads over. I have somewhat ambivalent feelings about the move. Not excited to leave the current place but excited to save money. I'm more focused on the actual physical process of the moving than the end result of being in the new place. At this point I'm happy to get started and ready to be done. The house is definitely smaller than the one we have now and the layout is really different, so I've been having trouble in my mind figuring out how to arrange things and what will fit where. We'll just have to start putting things in and see where they fit.

I think the things that I will miss the most about this house are the covered porch, the gaming room, and the central air. But it's always liberating to downsize. I'm excited to have a smaller house that's easier to clean, to leave more things in storage, and to finally have a dishwasher.

In other exciting news, I had an unexpected surprise yesterday when my boss pulled me in his office and told me I was getting a raise! Not due for a review or anything. Just, a 'we're really glad you're here, you're doing a great job, and we want to give you more money,' kind of thing. There's nothing quite so strong of an affirmation as putting your money where your mouth is, particularly when it's in my pocket! It's also nice to know that the long hours I've been putting in have been worth it. With our new employee that we just hired (She's great!), there are a lot of exciting things happening for us. In a stagnating economy, it's nice to be with a company where business is booming and significant growth is happening, and it's exciting to be a part of that success.

Given the savings we're about to incur on our new rent, and factoring in my raise that just went into effect, we'll be netting almost a full grand in monthly income to our favor. Given the circumstances, I finally caved and allowed Don to do something we haven't done in a very long time... order Cable television. Soon to be installed in our new house, we are about to be the proud hosts to 200+ digital channels including On Demand Options and TIVO capabilities. If you don't hear from me for a while it is because I have fallen into the abyss of the Home and Garden Channel.

Approved!

Just heard from the landlord that we are pretty much approved for the new place. He just needs to call to verify our employment. We can come by tomorrow to pick up the forms. It will be sad to leave our current place and a major pain in the @$$ to pack. But can you imagine what we can do with an extra $750 a month?!

Stress

We really have been living the good life since we moved to California. Something of a "Honeymoon Period" you could say. It's the happiest Don and I have ever been. We've been inspired and satisfied by our work. We haven't had to worry about finances. We've established great friendships. We've enjoyed the environment and the culture. We've basically been worry free for a while now. Oh, how I wish that feeling could last forever. I really had forgotten what it's like to be burdened by stress, anxiety, doubts, and burdens. But we've had plenty of them in the last couple of weeks. It really is true that what women want most in life is security. That doesn't mean to me that we have to make tons of money (although I won't turn it down if it comes my way.) But I'm not good with the unknowns. I hate being in limbo. I hate uncertainty and not knowing what my future holds - especially with something as large as where I'm going to be living next month. Not that there isn't excitement in it too. But I prefer the stability of the even keel rather than the huge peaks and valleys of the emotional tidal wave we've been riding this month. Stress sucks. It messes with your head. It messes with your heart. And it really messes with your sleep. But, really after a whole year of bliss, I guess I can't complain too much about our minor struggles in the grand scheme of things. Life moves ahead and we are just along for the ride. We might as well try and enjoy it as best we can.

Small Steps

If we are going to be moving, there is lots to be done. Still waiting to hear on the application if we were approved or not. Tonight I've decided to spend working on our home office. My desk needs some major cleaning and there are lots of things to throw out, recycle, donate and shred. There's nothing like the giant task of moving to motivate you to pair down and simplify your life. It's actually quite liberating.

Cooling Down

Also, I forgot to mention... We have been having a lovely heat waive. 4 days last week with highs over 110F. Things have finally cooled down. The high today is only supposed to be 85! I may celebrate by doing errands tonight which I have been avoiding since it was too hot to get in and out of the car.

This one's for you, Grandma

I realize the blogs have been few and far between. Work has been busy with not much "down time." But here's an update for our loved ones so you still know we're alive and kicking. I need to remember that even when I don't have time to launch an extended detailed monologue, short posts with the basics are still acceptable.

So, yes, we are alive, and some pretty big things going on. Our lease expired and it was time to renew. The landlord decided to raise the rent which made us a little bitter. Given the fact that we had good payment history and that property values were dropping while our expenses are going up, we just couldn't see how she could justify the increase. Also, with the economy in such a bunch, we just don't feel as stable as we did a year ago this time. So it got us to thinking, and we decided to at least look around and see if there were any other reasonable options that might save us a chunk of change. Well, long story short, in less than 24 hours, we found a 2 bedroom house in our direct neighborhood for significantly less. $750 a month less! Sure there are a few downgrades, and a little less space. But still has the essentials and really, plenty for the two of us and the dogs. This has been a nice place but more than we need. So we applied and will find out later this week if we were accepted. Can't imagine why we would be declined. And if accepted we will be moved in to the new place by the end of next month.

Also, at work, our new hire starts next week. It will be a lot of time to get her trained but she seems pretty bright and I think she will do well. So maybe some day down the road I will actually be able to work a normal schedule. In the meantime, I may have to put in some extra time this weekend to get some more training materials put together.

The 4th of July is coming up and my sister Kristy is coming to visit! I can't wait to see her and to plan some fun things while she is here. We will most likely host a BBQ on the 4th. We also want to do some hiking and go to the beach. Also, I'm looking forward to the 3 day weekend!

Finally, we just found out that Don's short film from the 48 hour film project won the viewer's choice award for their group! Way to go Babe! This means they make it to the next round and could potentially win some prizes or at least some notariety! They are working on a director's cut of the film. As soon as it's ready they'll post it on YouTube and I'll put up the link for it.

80's Gothic Skate Night

Here are a few pictures from our recent skating outing. I haven't been skating since I was a little girl. It's a lot more difficult when you are thirty. The balance and coordination were much easier when you only way 80 pounds. Plus, it hurt less when you fell down. Go to my Webshots Album for more pics.

New Photos / Old Photos

Better late then never. Here are some pictures from our girl's weekend to wine country last November. My camera had a glitch and I lost about 300 pictures that I had taken. Now I know better and unload them more frequently. Anyway, Paige just recently brought me copies of the pictures she took from that weekend. Here are a few sample pics. The rest you can view in my Webshot Albums.


Here we are at the start of our road trip getting so happy to be getting out of the city!


A lovely viewing stop along the way.


A picture of Camille and I in front of Edna Valley Vineyards. Let the wine tasting begin!




Bottums up!


Statuette and I guarding the grounds of Hurst Castle!


The most beautiful outdoor pool I have ever seen in person. I want to swim in it! Check out the webshots album for pics of the indoor pool!

Roots

Over the past weekend, Don spent 48 hours in a film competition which left me to entertain myself. So Saturday evening, Paige and I decided to get together and do something. Since she has headshots coming up (very expensive headshots), she needed to die her hair to cover up her roots and grow out. So I invited her to bring the die over and we could watch movies and hang out during the dying process. Well, to make a long story short, we never got around to the actual hair die part, but we certainly did get down to our roots. While looking through our DVD shelf to see if we had anything interesting, Paige got super excited when she noticed that we had a couple seasons of our mutual childhood favorite cartoon "Heman and the Masters of the Universe." As soon as I mentioned that watching those cartoons always makes me want to color in coloring books we had sealed our fate that that was how we would spend our evening. So off to Target we went to pick up some new coloring books, coloring crayons, and of course a nice little stash of junkfood for our childhood flashback playdate. Even though many of the crayons from our brand new box we discovered to be broken upon opening, and the coloring book selection was nothing like it was when we were kids, we still ended up having a quite enjoyable evening. As Paige mentioned, coloring in your 30s is so much more satisfying than when you were a kid. You can actually stay in the lines and the finished product is much nicer!